"The Empty Chair" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter
Sting. Co-written by Sting and American record producer
J. Ralph
Josh Ralph (born 1975), known professionally as J. Ralph, is an American composer, producer, singer/songwriter and social activist who focuses on creating awareness and change through music and film.
A three-time Academy Award-nominated compos ...
, the song was released as the lead single from the soundtrack album of 2016 documentary film ''
Jim: The James Foley Story''.
"The Empty Chair" was nominated for the 2017
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
in the
Best Original Song
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
category.
Both Sting and J. Ralph have previously received nominations in the same category; Sting was nominated three times before while J. Ralph had two previous nominations.
Sting recorded a separate version of the song with a guitar, instead of piano, for his studio album ''
57th & 9th''.
Inspiration
The song is written for the film ''Jim: The James Foley Story'' which tells the life story of American photojournalist James "Jim" Foley who was kidnapped in Syria and subsequently beheaded by
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
(ISIS). Sting, who wrote the song with J. Ralph, discussed the inspiration behind "The Empty Chair" during an interview with ''Billboard'':
Live performances
Sting performed a solo acoustic guitar version of "The Empty Chair" during the
89th Academy Awards ceremony aired live on February 26, 2017.
Sting also sang the song in November 2016 at
Bataclan
Bataclan may refer to:
*'' Ba-ta-clan'', a 1855 operetta by Jacques Offenbach
* Bataclan (theatre), a theatre in Paris named after the operetta
**Bataclan theatre massacre, November 2015 Paris attacks
Music
*''Bataclan 1989'', by Maxime Le Fores ...
, a theatre in Paris, in an exclusive concert to commemorate the
2015 terrorist attack.
References
External links
"The Empty Chair"at
Oscars.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empty Chair
2016 singles
2016 songs
Sting (musician)
Songs written by Sting (musician)
Commemoration songs
Universal Music Group singles